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Activision: IW Received $493 Million In Bonuses Since 2003

Activision is facing a $1 billion lawsuit brought against them by former Infinity Ward bosses Jason West and Vince Zampella, who claim they're owed a ton of money in currently unpaid bonuses and royalties.

But in a Los Angeles Superior Court hearing, Activision lawyers claimed the company has paid out over $493 million in bonuses to the Infinity Ward studio since 2003.

It even goes beyond bonuses for the games IW produced; Activision says the team received "hefty bonus payouts" for games developed by Treyarch, too. In fact, they say Infinity Ward received over $100 million in "bonus pool payments" thanks to Call of Duty: Black Ops. Here's how the IW payouts breakdown according to Activision:

Call of Duty - $3.8 million (studio)

Call of Duty 2 - $69 million (studio)

Call of Duty 3 - $2.6 million (tech)

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - $74.5 million (studio)

Call of Duty: World at War - $13.96 million (tech), $18.68 million (IP)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - $147.46 million (studio)

Call of Duty: Black Ops - $46 million (tech), $56.96 million (IP)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - $59.9 million (studio)

Lastly, Activision has claimed that the $147.46 million bonus pool paid to Infinity Ward for Modern Warfare 2 (the title most in question concerning West and Zampella) includes the $42 million "recently paid to a group of former Infinity Ward employees who quit in the wake of the firing of the studio's co-founders."

West and Zampella were fired for allegedly conspiring with the enemy; i.e., secretly siding with rival publisher EA to form their own studio, with the intention of making games EA could publish. Unsurprisingly, the duo tell a very different story.

they claim they have not been paid any royalties!so what else are they lying about?hmmmmmm, as the days go by more and more evidence keeps piling up against them!sorry guys but this is looking like a pathetic attempt to get back at them for firing you!your not doing your work, your bringing your team down, your breaching your contract, your conspiring with other companies, of course there going to fire you!

im still on the developers side with this. Their issue isnt that they didnt get paid at all, its that it wasnt enough compared to how much the game made according to some sort of contract i bet. and you can see that for MW2 there isnt any (IP) payment at all.